Process of making hollow balls of cast metal.



Patented 0ct .5, 1909.

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A. CASEY. PROCESS OF MAKING HOLLOW BALLS OF GAST METAL. APPLICATIONI'ILED MAE. 2, 1907. RENEWED 00E. 22,1908.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES C Q E/VTOR v j 3y l1 2 *romus UNITED STATES PATENT CFFTQE.

AMBROSE CASEY, OF SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOULDS MANU-FACTURING COMPANY, OF SENECA FALLS, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF MAKING HOLLOW BALLS OF CAST METAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1909.

Application filed March 2, 1907, Serial No. 360,139. Renewed October 22,1908. Serial No. 459,070.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMBROSE Casnr, of Seneca Falls, in the county ofSeneca, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in the Process of Making Hollow Ballsof Cast Metal, ofwhich the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved method in manufacturing hollow metalarticles, and more particularly to the manufacturing of hollow metalshells of spherical form having a uniform thickness throughout.

The invention accordingly consists in the several steps and the relationand order of each of the same to one or more of the others thereof whichwill be exemplified in the art hereinafter described, and the scope ofthe application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown one method of carrying onthis art,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a lathe 01' other turningdevice illustrating the method of forming the pattern. Fig. 2 is asimilar view of Fig. 1, illustrating the method of forming the core.Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a flash showing two sand molds, onecontaining the pattern and the other containing the cast shell and core,parts being shown in section for the sake of clearness. Fig. i is asectional view of the hollow shell showing the method. of filling theopening therein; and Fig. 5 is a view in elevation of the finishedarticle.

The process briefly described consists in first making a pattern of thedesired form and providing it with means whereby it may be supported ina definite position within the molding flask or box, and then forming acore of the required form and dimension and providing said core withmeans whereby it may be supported within the molding flask with itscenter in exact coincidence with the center of the mold previouslyformed by the pattern. 1 For the purpose of illustration I have shownand described the process of constructing a spherical shell.

Referring to the drawings, I first construct a spherical pattern 1 ofwood or any other suitable material and provide it with a stem 2 havinga tapering end portion 3 which is adapted to fit snugly within acorresponding tapering socket 4 formed in the face plate 5 of the lathe.The stem is further provided with a threaded extension 6 adapted toreceive a nut 7 whereby the pattern may be firmly secured to said faceplate, as shown in Fig. 1. lVhen the pattern has been secured in themanner above described, it is turned or trued up to the desireddimensions by means of a suitable cutting tool 8 mounted upon a rotatingcarriage 9 operated in the usual manner. The form of this pattern ismade of the same form as that desired for the finished article, havingapproximately the same dimensions as the outer dimensions of therequired article in order that the article after it has been cast may befinished in the usual manner, although, of course, if desired, ll maymake the outer din'iensions of the pattern to substantially coincidewith the outer dimensions of the required article without departing fromthe spirit of my invention. I next form a destructible core 10 of sandor other suitable material having the general form of the interior ofthe article to be manufac tured, but being slightly larger in itsdimensions, said core being provided with a stem 11 and containing acentrally extending, perforated tube 12, the outer end of which isprovided with a tapering portion 13 of the same shape and size as thetapering portion of the. pattern. The stem of the core is also providedwith a threaded extension 14. similar to the threaded extension (3 ofthe pattern and adapted to receive the nut 7 whereby the core may beheld within the face plate of the lathe in the same manner as that inwhich the pattern is held. The core is then trued up to the exactdimensions and form of the interior of the article which is to bemanufactured, and for this purpose I preferably use a grinding orabrading wheel 15 which may be substituted for the cutting tool 8 shownin Fig. 1. In truing up the core the grinding wheel is so adjusted withrespect thereto that the center of the spherical portion of the corewill be the same distance from the tapering portion 13 as the center ofthe spherical portion of the pattern is distant from its taperingportion 3. After these parts have been formed in the manner abovedescribed the pattern is supported in a sectional molding flask or boxcomprising upper and lower sections 16 and 17 detachably securedtogether by any suitable means 18, and the wall of said flask isprovided with one or more tapering sockets 19 ex actly corresponding inshape and size to the tapering socket at within the face plate of thelathe, in order to receive the tapering ends of the stems of the patternand core. The pattern is held securely in position by means of a thumbscrew 20 or similar device engaging the threaded extension (3, theunderside of the fiask being preferably cut away or elevated shown inFig. 3 to permit access to said screw. Sand is then tamped or built uparound the pattern in the usual manner thereby forming a mold or cavityof the same form and interior dimensions as the outer surface of thepattern, and a suitable gate or passage 21 is provided through which themolten metal may be poured in the usual manner. After the mold has beenformed as described the sections of the flask are separated and thepattern removed after which the destructible core is placed within theflask with its tapering portion 13 snugly fitting within the taperingsocket previously occupied by the tapering portion of the pattern, andowing to the fact that the center of the core is exactly the samedistance from its tapering end as the center of the pattern is from itstapering end, it is evident that when the core is secured in positionits center will be exactly coincident with the center of the sphericalmold which has been formed by the pattern, thus leaving an interveningspace of uniform thickness between the core and the wall of the mold.After the sand core is secured in position by means of the thumb screw20 the sections of the flask are reassembled and molten metal is pouredthrough the passage or gate until the intervening space between the coreand the mold is completely filled.

lVhen the casting 22 has cooled and hardened the parts of the flask areonce more separated, the thumb screw is removed and the casting havingthe core contained therein is removed from the flask, after which thecore is broken up in any suitable way and removed through the opening 23in the shell which has been occupied by the stem of the core. I thenfill this opening in the shell by inserting a metal plug 24 preferablyof the same material as that of which the shell is composed and having acurvature corresponding to the curvature of the shell, which plug may besecured within the opening in any desired manner. As shown, I haveformed a thread in the wall of the opening and the plug iscorrespondingly threaded whereby it may be securely held in position.The plug is preferably provided with a stem, extending centrallytherefrom by means of which it may be held within the lathe, in

case it is desired to true up or finish the outer surface of the shell,after which the stem may be cut off and the outer surface of. the plugfinished up in such a way as to leave an entirely smooth exterior.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and manyapparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be madewithout departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all mattercontained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawingsshall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the followingclaims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of theinvention which, as a matter of language, might be said to falltherebetween.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. The herein disclosed process of casting hollow metallic articles,consisting in preliminarily forming from heat-enduring material and on asuitable stem a core slightly exceeding in size the interior dimensionsof the article to be cast, then rotatably supporting said stem andturning up the surface of said rotating core to correspond with thepredetermined interior dimensions of the article to be cast, obtaining amold corresponding to the exterior of the hollow article to be cast andgreater in size than said turned-up core, supporting said corein thepredetermined position in said mold, and filling the space interveningbetween said core and mold with molten metal.

2. The herein-described process of forming hollow spherical articleswhich consists in forming a core of friable refractory material on theend of a suitable stem, mounting the protruding end of said stem in arotating member and simultaneously presenting a finishing tool to thesurface of said core and swinging said finishing tool about an axisextending through the predetermined center of said core, preparing aspherical mold, utilizing the protruding stem for supporting saidfinished spherical core accurately and concentrically within saidspherical mold, filling the intervening space with molten metal, thenbreaking up and removing the core and stem from said hollow sphericalcasting, then inserting a supporting plug in the opening in saidcasting, utilizing said supporting plug to support said casting and thenfinishing the surface of the same, and finally cutting off the protruding portion of said supporting stem.

3. The herein-described method of forming hollow spherical articles,consisting of forming a one piece pattern corresponding to the form ofthe article desired, forming a mold by means of said pattern, forming acore on a stem, then supporting the protruding end of the stem andtruing the surface of the core, supporting the stem in said flask so asto bring the center of the core coincident with the center of the moldformed by the pattern, filling the intervening space between the coreand the mold with molten metal, removing the stem, and plugging the holein the casting.

l. The herein-described method of making hollow spherical articlesconsisting in making a one piece pattern having the form of the articledesired and provided with a tapering stem, forming a mold from saidpattern by inserting its stem in a correspondingly tapering socketwithin the mold flask and drawing said stem to a tight fit, tamping sandabout said pattern, removing said pattern from the mold, providing aspherical core having a tapering stem of the same size as the taperedstem of the pattern, inserting said tapering stem within said taperingsocket and drawing the same to a tight fit, and filling the interveningspace between the sand core and the mold with molten metal.

5. The herein-described method of forming hollow spherical articlesconsisting in forming a mold of substantially the form and dimensions ofthe exterior of the article required, providing a core having the formand dimensions of the interior of the article required, supporting saidcore symmetrically within said mold, filling the space between the moldand the core with molten metal, removing said core from the interior ofthe article, and finally filling the opening in the casting throughwhich the stem of the core projected.

6. The herein-described method of forming hollow spherical articlesconsisting in forming a mold of substantially the form and dimensions ofthe exterior of the article required, providing a core having the formand dimensions of the interior of the article required, supporting saidcore symmetrically within the mold, filling the space between.

the mold and the core with molten metal, removing said core from theinterior of the finished article, inserting a metal plug in the openingin the casting through which the core support projected, and finallyfinishing the exposed portion of the plug flush with the surface of thecasting.

7. The herein-described method of forming hollow articles which consistsin providing a pattern having the exact exterior form and dimensions ofthe required article, forming a sand mold by the pattern, providing asand core having the exact exterior form and dimensions required for theinterior of the hollow article, supporting the sand core in the sandmold with its center coincident therewith, pouring molten metal into theintervening space between the core and sand mold, and then truing up thecast material on the same center as that on which the core and thepattern were trued.

S. The herein-described method of forming hollow articles consisting inproviding a pattern trued up to have the exact form and dimensions ofthe required metal shell, forming the sand mold by the use of saidpattern vertically positioned in said flask, providing a sand core truedup to have the exact exterior form and dimensions required for theinterior of the hollow article, positioning the core vertically in thesand mold with its center coincident therewith, pouring molten metalinto the intervenin space between the core and the said mold, and thenremoving the spherical metal body from the sand mold and truing it up onthe same center on which the core and the pattern were trued.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of February1907.

AMBROSE CASEY.

lVitnesses RICHARD J. MCCAUL, HENRY CASEY.

